An age difference of 2 1/2 years is one of the few things that separate sisters Kim and Jill Krmpotic. They live together, work as registered nurses at the same Phoenix hospital and are both pursuing Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees online through the UA College of Nursing.

As an elementary education major at the UA, Autumn Champion learned how to be an effective teacher. As a standout player on the UA softball team, she also learned about successful teamwork, winning a national championship with her team in 2006. Now, she hopes to bring both skills to her newly chosen profession: nursing. In May, Champion began her studies in the Master of Science, Entry to the Profession of Nursing program at the UA College of Nursing.

UA students who attended a seminar in the nation's capitol this summer got real-world insight into national security, along with some inspiration for their future careers. The weeklong program included site visits and meetings with high-profile officials in national security.

Faculty involved in "Chemical Thinking," a redesign of Chemistry 151 and 152, are teaching students to think like chemists by focusing on critical-thinking skills and applied learning. The course grew out of the UA's AAU STEM Project, an interdisciplinary effort to significantly expand STEM-related collaborations, curricula and funding opportunities.

The UA is expanding the number of articulation agreements it has with community colleges and improving programs for transfer students. The move is part of a deliberate, cross-institutional effort to increase the number of Arizona residents with baccalaureate degrees.

NASA has invited the UA Microgravity Research Team to perform experiments in weightlessness aboard the G-Force One. The undergraduate researchers are at the Johnson Space Center this week, studying how polymers made in space could be used for spacecraft repair on long missions.